“It was the highlight of the festival,” said Rachel Covarrubias, a 21-year-old from Salt Lake City who took an Uber from her AirBnB to see West Sunday morning.

West’s typical Sunday Service sessions are invite-only, but Coachella opened up more tickets for fans after West announced he would be bringing the spiritual series to the festival.

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Jessie Thom, 38, of Las Vegas walked over from the campgrounds with his friends shortly before 8 a.m. to watch the service. He waited in a longer line, 35 minutes, to buy T-shirts than the 10-minute walk into the service.

Thom doesn’t consider himself religious, but said Sunday’s service wasn’t about the message as much of the experience.

“Being here is a once in a forever occurrence and this is to sort of commemorate that,” Thom said about his $70 T-shirt.

Regardless of religious views, Thom said music has the power to connect people.

In addition to dozens of choir members — who fanned out down the hillside, known as “the mountain,” where West and his praise band were centrally located — there were also some famous faces who spoke or performed during the two-hour service, including Chance the Rapper and DMX.

Dressed in all white, Dejon Harris, 33, of San Diego, said she felt West did a great job of mixing in his music and still sharing the gospel.

“I didn’t expect him to be there the whole time,” she said, adding she was glad to see Chance the Rapper.

Early on, Myke Alleyne, 33, of San Diego, said there were more people there to see “Kanye, the spectacle” and he was glad the resulting service was more about Easter Sunday.

Liset Márquez covers the cities of Pomona, Claremont, La Verne and San Dimas for the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. A beat reporter for the Bulletin since 2006, she previously wrote for the Chattanooga Times Free Press. She keeps a watchful eye on city councils and the Dodgers.

James H. Williams joined the Southern California News Group in 2013 with a passion for sports, social media and journalism that has led to his role as a Digital Sports Producer. During his down time, he finds himself on social media providing scores and stats on local and professional sports. When he is out at a game, he can be found roaming the sidelines and the snack bar at halftime.

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